Way Back Home
by Fan Gals
Summary: My name is Percy Jackson. I've lived in New York all my life until my mom decided to ditch her smelly husband and move to the country side of Missouri. The population was under 200- not counting the Indian reserve near by. I'm a city boy trapped in a hick's dream- until a girl named Annabeth shows me how they do it in the country, and my life starts to make sense again.
1. Day One

ᴡᴀʏ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ʜᴏᴍᴇ

ʙʏ ᴘᴀᴜʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴜʀᴛʟᴇ

ᴅᴀʏ ᴏɴᴇ

 **My name is Percy Jackson, and I'm 15 years old.**

 **All my life I've been told New Year's is a fresh start. I don't see why- you still have the same stepfather who treats you like nothing and the same bullies in your life that don't care what you say or do. It wasn't until then I realized New Year's wasn't the day for a fresh start.**

 **It was today.**

 _Summer was the dawn of xBox One, Futurama, and pizza deliveries. Too bad I didn't take apart of it._

I left my two friends, Carter and Sadie, to move to Missouri. My mom insisted it was for the best, but honestly, who knows. After leaving my stinky step-father, Gabe, she promised nothing bad from then on. I couldn't believe her- after all, he was the one who gambled our life savings away. When she came home to find her "secret" jar empty, Mom convinced me she'd get revenge. That revenge, of course, that meant taking his Camaro and driving 1,058 miles to a state I've never even seen or heard of on T.V. The way there, we survived on chips and gas station coffee, but stopping occasionally for the cheapest motel in the area for a span of three days. The lack of conversation prolonged between us surfaced when we hit our future, small, and believe me when I say- _country_ hometown. The population was only about 200 people, not including the persons living on the Cherokee Indian reserve. That seemed to spark my attention, and I turned off the radio.

"Where exactly are we going to live, mom?" I asked, looking out the bug splattered windshield. I heard her sigh faintly, causing the trident necklace around her throat to jingle a bit.

"It's country, I'll tell you that, but it seems you already know," not even bothering to gesture the outstretch of farmland in front of us. "I got a deal on a farmhouse about thirty minutes from where we are, but it doesn't have much yard space, due to our unfortunate funding crisis." Her nice way of putting _we're broke_ didn't seem to comfort me a bit. "There are some kids your age around here, I'm sure, just… you know… try to be _friendly._ "

As if it was hard enough for me to make friends. "What are you going to do about money?" I tried to change the subject. She replied with the simplistic answer of _it's not your concern._ "Mom?" I questioned in a small voice, after waiting a span of five minutes.

"Yes?"

"Are we going to be okay here?"

"I hope so. I really, really hope so."

And with that, we remained silent for the remainder of the trip, only about ten minutes, until we rolled to a stop in front of an old, spidery, broken-down building I barely could call a house. A dirt splattered yard had irregular tufts of long, wiry weeds trying to reach the sun. It led to a set of four stairs (one of which was broken in a splintery half) to a poorly constructed wooden foundation upon a stone basement. Five of the six visible windows in my sight were broken by which I figured was either a rock or possibly tornado debris. A piece of glass fell from one of the five shattered piles, falling roughly upon the yellowing dirt. The impact sputtered a cloud of pebbles and dead weeds into my trachea. I coughed roughly and my mom looked at me sadly. She deemed it _home sweet home_ and grabbed one of the two suitcases from the trunk, and started to approach the house. I followed in pursuit, but only to step in front of her.

"Maybe I should go first," I turned around to eye the rickety pile of wood. "You know, just in case…" Mom glared at me.

"If you think I'm letting my first born going in there first, you're sadly mistaken mister!" She said with extraordinary utterance. And with that, she stormed past me and into the house. I sighed in defeat and jogged after her. It'd be an understatement to say I got my stubbornness from my mom. I scuffed my shoe on a nail as I walked in, talking everything in. The main room, probably the future living room, had an old mothball-covered green couch facing a wall. The T.V. was most likely there. Horizontally from that particular piece of furniture was a kitchen with white-tiled floors. The cupboards were painted a bright cyan color- which aged horribly to look more of a brownish color –with doors astray, revealing piles of mold infested china. The sink was the focus of the kitchen, and above it was a window with faded flower drapes. An old fashioned fridge sat to the left of all this, covered in magnets from a couple of decades ago exclaiming _Buy Chester's Aged Whiskey!_ And _World's fair, Tennessee!_ My mom stole my attention by walking up a set of creaky stairs that apparently led to two bedrooms and a shared bathroom.

 _I think someone died in this house…_ I thought dreadfully to myself, setting my suitcase down in my future room. A bead of sweat dripped down my face as realization creeped in. All the while exploring, I hadn't spotted a single A/C or even a ceiling fan.

I sighed quietly, rubbing the small of my back. It was sore and it hurt with each step, sending a jolt of pain up my spine. I winced when I touched a tender spot, immediately taking my hand off of it. I scanned the room silently, taking in the metal bedframe supporting a yellowing mattress next to a faux mahogany night stand. A small but sturdy dresser of the same material stood next to the doorway with a dusty mirror perched unevenly atop it. That was all. But nonetheless, it was bigger than my old room (if you can believe it) and beat sharing it with Smelly Gabe. At that moment, my mom peeked in and told me to start unpacking, and I followed orders. One by one, I unloaded each shirt, placing them neatly in the drawers. I did the same for the pants, shorts, and underwear. I was glad to have done this myself, not because I had responsibility but because if my mom did it, I'd have no idea where it was. I knew from experience (thanks mom). When I finally finished unpacking my small amount of clothes, I grabbed the alarm clock I'd snagged from Gabe and plugged it in. The time read 7:30, so I slid the suitcase underneath the bed and walked out of the room. I quickly told my mom where I was going, and was on my way. I saved time by not taking my shoes off (I'm proud of myself!).

As we drove by earlier, I got a visual of a tiny diner not too far from our future- I might as well say _current_ –residence. It had an aged yellow sign that read _DINER_ , which made it pretty self-explanatory. It had front windows revealing blurs of people as we sped by, having a conversation about god knows what, but I envied them for what they were. Friends. The composure of the building gave you a vintage vibe (probably because it was made in like the 50s) and had old tacky signs on the exterior. I didn't necessarily know what I was hoping to find or achieve when I walked in after a five to eight minute trip, but I got up my courage. And of course it immediately deflated when I saw a hot girl. I don't mean a bimbo or anything, I mean she was _really, really,_ hot and looked (mildly) intelligent. Her hair was curled to perfection like a princess in the shade of honey blonde, greatly contrasting with her deep grey eyes. She looked like a Californian girl trapped in a hellhole named Missouri, as am I, but from New York. The girl was seated in front of a girl with ink black hair in a pixie cut, debating about something. I don't think she noticed me while I conspicuously checked her out. Well, I'd had gotten away with it until a guy at the counter yelled,

"Hey! You gonna buy anything or are you going to keep staring at my sister, city boy?" His mouth went up in a half-smirk, revealing a set of pearly whites. His voice echoed around the small diner, leaving me silent. The girl stopped arguing with her friend to look at me. She almost had the same hair as her sibling, and I tilted my head slightly so I didn't have to look at her. The boy's blue eyes pierced through me as I stuttered out randomly, "I'll have a Pepsi." I vaguely heard the Goth girl snort as the cashier opened a glass bottle of the soda and placed it on the counter. I sat down on one of the stools, my back thankfully to the girls.

"So, city boy, do you have a name?" He leaned on the counter as I pulled two dollars out of my wallet.

"Depends." I replied shortly, sliding the cash to him. He guffawed.

"Well, Depends," He smiled at his lame joke, "nice to meet you. I'm Luke." He held out a tan calloused hand.

I shook it, replying, "Percy."

"Those girls behind you," Luke nodded to them as I turned around to see them obliviously arguing yet again. "The blonde is Annabeth, my sister, and the Goth one is Thalia, also my sister." I decided not to question either one of those statements and took a sip of Pepsi. "What brings you here, Percy?" A sandy eyebrow raised to start a questionnaire that I was not comfortable with.

"You know. The usual."

"What exactly is " _the usual"_?" He asked.

"Fresh start." I half-lied. I didn't feel like going into detail, nor did I feel like conversing with a stranger.

And of course, Luke asked, "From what?"

I drank the rest of the soda, finally saying, "Life." With that, I got up and left the diner, trailing back home on a dusty sidewalk.

I guess my exit was a little dramatic, but I wasn't going put up for this crap. Not to go ranting, but for the couple of hours I've been here, I hated this god-forsaken town and the people in it (maybe excluding Annabeth…) and I didn't want to be here in the first place. I guess I have to morally decide to go back "home" with Smelly Gabe or stay here with my mom, but like a dumb teenager with no purpose in life, I thought, _Screw it, I'll leave it to future me._ My rant may have lasted two seconds in my head, but the thinking lasted me the whole way home, where I climbed on my little stained mattress and laid down with no further arguments for my consciousness. As I lay there, staring at the coffee-brown wall, I realized it may have been a little lazy not to get sheets to sleep in, but it was too hot for them anyways. Before I knew it I was fast asleep.

 _I walked through the door, a wave of smoke hitting my nostrils, mingling with already present stale booze. Gabe and his buddies were playing poker with my mom's "hidden" stash, and he then put in the keys to his Camaro. A guy, Eddie I believe, threw in a couple of coupons to Gabe's workplace (the electronic mart) to match his deal. Gabe looked at me with a sly grin, and his friends turned towards me as well. Something was suspicious, but I'd rather keep my life then confront him about it._

" _Hey, kid," Gabe gestured towards me. "Cough it up."_

" _I don't have any."_

" _You got here somehow right? Probably a cab and paid with a twenty. Seven dollars, and_ now _." He said demandingly._

 _He was a bloodhound for money! I complied and gave him the $7.36 from my pocket and turned to my "room". His grimy hand stopped me and I got the whiff of moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts. I gagged when I turned around, forcibly holding my breath. His bald head was shiny with grease and sweat which dripped down his face to reveal a smile filled with cavities and yellow. (Brush your teeth, kids!) By now Gabe stood up to face me and I reluctantly gulped._

" _So, I heard you and Sally were going on a little_ trip _." He pushed me at the last word, making me stumble back. "Well, I won't be taking a part of it, will I?" I tried to remain calm as our plan from months ago crumbled before my eyes. "Well, I'm fine with it, as long as you get a little_ souvenir _from the big apple to remember me." Gabe's hairy arm reached into his pocket and pulled out a rusty pocket knife the size of a dead rat. "Hold em' down!" He yelled as his buddies jumped up to comply. I scrambled backwards, only to trip on a case of empty beer bottles._

" _He's just a kid!" Eddie resented, not following the rest of the drunkards._

" _I said_ now! _" Gabe bellowed again while his puppets held me down, Eddie adding to the bunch._

 _I struggled against the force, but no luck came to me. As Gabe loomed over me, he told them to flip me over so my mom wouldn't see the scar. As they did, my face was pressed into the dirt-covered hardwood when his fingers pushed up my shirt to reveal my lower back. I felt the cool blade of the knife as it sliced unsteadily through my skin. I began to scream, but someone's hand covered my mouth. I never cried, however tears ran hot down my face- hot like the blood that seeped through the gash Gabe had started cutting. He slowly made a jagged line across the width of my lower back, letting the pain linger. It felt like hours until they let go of me. I was reduced to a sobbing mess as they tore my shirt off to mop the blood messily off the floor. I crawled to our shared room as I heard Gabe bragging to his friends about his nice cutting job. My hand felt all the while for the dresser, searching and searching until the leg bumped gently against my quivering limb. I sat myself upright, careful not to hurt the cut, and grabbed two shirts out of the drawer. I tied one around my abdomen as an attempt to halt the bleeding, and put one over my torso. I gently crawled into the mattress, laying down on my side. I put the smelly blankets over my body, which was shaking like an earthquake. Not before long, my mom stepped into the doorway and I tried to lay still. She was back late from work._

" _Are you okay honey? It's early to be sleeping."_

" _Its fine mom," I said, attempting to stop my voice from breaking. "Just tired." She sighed and turned the lights off._


	2. Day Two

ᴡᴀʏ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ʜᴏᴍᴇ

ʙʏ ᴘᴀᴜʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴜʀᴛʟᴇ

ᴅᴀʏ ᴛᴡᴏ

 **Sally is absolutely amazing in this chapter.**

 **You can't deny**

The next morning I woke up drenched in sweat. It wasn't from the heat. I hadn't thought much about the scar, but then again it still silently creeped up in my mind to haunt me. Just thinking about made my lower back ache, and I rolled out of the bed to go take a shower. I grabbed a set of clothes quickly, walking to the bathroom across the hall. The room had mold on every other tile which lay on the floor, and I'm pretty sure the sink's knobs were rusted up so badly you couldn't turn them. I cautiously stepped over some mold to face the shower-bathtub mix. It was old fashioned, but I tried to turn it on anyways. I fiddled with it until I finally got some results. The showerhead rattled, and it choppily sputtered out green slime. Grossed out, I turned it off and threw the clothes in my room, and carefully went down the splintery steep stairs. My mom sat on the mothball couch with a beaten up copy of _Pride and Prejudice_. She turned around when she heard me coming.

"Hey honey, how did you sleep?" She asked, "I tried to make breakfast but the fridge is broken and some weird green goop came out of the sink."

"I slept fine, and the same thing happened in the shower." I replied, standing idly by the banister.

My mom smiled a bit. "Did you get slimed?"

"Ha-ha, no. If you're hungry and if we have some money to spare there's a cheap diner down the street we can go to." I informed her, already putting on my shoes.

As I thought, she agreed and we made our way down the road to the diner. When I opened the door, a tiny bell rang and I saw Luke behind the counter and talking to Annabeth. Luke greeted me instantly.

"Hey, Peter!"

"Percy," I corrected.

"I see you brought your mom." He observed. _Naw dip, Sherlock._

"Uh-huh." I led her to the booth that Annabeth and Thalia sat previously before. Of course, being the friendly person she is, my mom decided to go up and sit by Annabeth and chat with Luke and her. I mentally groaned.

"I'm Sally," She held out her hand to Annabeth.

"Annabeth, ma'am." They shook hands and Mom did the same exchange to Luke.

"I see my son has met you already," Oh god. "Well I can tell you're nice people and he'll stay out of trouble with you around." I could almost hear her smile. I covered my face in my hands. I was probably a tomato. "I hate to call in a favor right now, but would you mind giving Percy a tour? I'd like for him to know where he's going."

"Of course I would Mrs., um," Annabeth paused. She didn't know my last name, and it was kind of funny she was trying to be formal- formal didn't go with Sally Jackson.

"Please, dear, call me Sally! And I really do appreciate it." My mom said dearly, hugging Annabeth. She awkwardly hugged back and spun around on the cushioned stool.

"Let's go, Percy." She said demandingly.

"Wait, what?"

"It's time for your tour!" She exclaimed in her sly southern accent. "Time to make some memories!"

I stood up from the booth and slowly followed Annabeth who was already out the door. I turned around to my mom and said, "Bye mom. I guess I'm going to… make memories…"

I exited the diner and my feet began to crunch on the gravel, walking towards the direction I thought Annabeth went. I couldn't find her until she cleared her throat behind me, and she was climbing into a dusty red pickup truck with a bulbous cab. I sighed reluctantly and climbed into the seat next to her, taking in the smell of the fake leather and the artificial pine scent the pendant hanging from the rearview mirror gave off. She started the growling engine, swinging the steering wheel around rather harshly as we skidded out of the makeshift parking lot. I caught one last glimpse of my mom staring at us from the window and she mouthed, _have fun!_ As Annabeth drove wildly around town, I started to regret even going outside, much less climbing into the car in the first place.

After seeing the town momentarily as we drove by, she stopped at an abandoned building. I couldn't read the sign from my dyslexia, but she immediately explained what it was.

"This is the factory. No one knows what it made or who worked there, but it's usually for parties."

"Um… cool?"

"I'm not showing you this because it's used for parties, Percy. I'm showing you this because it has meaning. Memories aren't about good times, they're reminders of what you still have in life. This is the place where I met Luke and Thalia. I was about nine years old, and I had ran away from home. I traveled for weeks, and the only food I got was from the homeless or pitying tourists in the big cities. This is how I survived, but it wasn't nearly enough. I learned about things you weren't supposed know about until your teen years; rapists, murderers, you name it- so I got a knife. I finally found a small enough town where no one could know I was here, it was off the maps and all. I hid in this factory, and one Friday night, there were people who came in. I heard them talking, and I still know what they said. 'Are you sure this is party material, Luke?' Thalia had said. 'Of course it is! It's all dark and-' I cut him off by jumping on him with a knife." She stopped and laughed, looking off into the distance. "He barely got me off in time before I could cut his throat. After that we stuck together, Luke got a job and we got a house."

I had nothing to say; I was astonished. She went through all of that on her own. So I, of course, stupidly said, "Let's find out what that factory was for."

"What?" Annabeth looked at me.

"Let's find out what that factory was for." I repeated with such certainty, I didn't even sound that crazy to myself.

"Oh, alright. We can give it a shot." She replied rather formally. She opened the driver's seat door and stepped out. I mirrored the action.

We began to walk unsteadily to the boarded up door, stopping only a second to ponder about how we'd get in, when she promptly yanked off the slabs of wood. I half laughed at this; she doesn't seem as strong as you'd think. When the old, termite-ridden doors finally opened with a joint push, a dusty factory revealed before us with stacks and stacks of old boxes. Empty red solo cups littered the floor along with buds of marijuana joints. Our feet scuffed the polished surface beneath us as we shuffled over to peer into boxes. We mirrored each other as we took a peek into a cardboard cube, then threw it to the side when we saw it was empty. This process took about ten minutes before I found something. I froze momentarily to view the object.

"Did you find something?" Annabeth called, looking over her shoulder. I turned to glance at her.

"No, but I'm going to check over here again, and we should probably go. I'm sad to say but this is a waste of time." I lied, sneaking the product to shield it from her view, walking over to the other side of the room. I pretended to search once again, only to hide my finding in a secure manner. I faced her.

"Well, I'm going to call Luke and the others. We need to show you _the crater_." Annabeth's mouth turned up into an evil smile.

"The crater?" I asked skeptically. She nodded, grabbing the keys out of her flannel shirt pocket and began twirling them around her finger. When we hopped into the truck, she jammed it into the ignition and wildly backed up out of the gravely alley at full speed. I grabbed on to the door to brace myself.

She began to drive down the empty streets with the window down, blowing her golden locks all over as she cranked the radio- I'm sorry, _boombox_ that sat at her feet to full blast. She was singing loudly to Taylor Swift, and occasionally yelling "Hey!" out the window to a fellow friend in a car or on the sidewalk. They always responded with either a "Hi, Annabeth!" or a simple wave. Before I could ask when exactly she would call her friends, she slowed down to a stop in front of a house, idling the engine as its rumble echoed. Annabeth leaned over to open the glove compartment to show it full of rocks and stones. She grabbed one and then threw it at the rusted metal door of the house. It made a loud _thump_ and it bounced off into- you'll never guess- a pile of rocks. A few minutes later, a boy with the same color hair as Annabeth opened the door with floral pattern shorts and a white t-shirt that matched his Farmer's Tan. He ran barefoot to the truck and hopped in the back. Annabeth turned off her boom box and turned around to the cracked window that separated the boy from us. She jimmied it open with her nimble fingers.

"Jason, this is Percy. Percy, this is Jason." We shook hands. "I hope Luke told Thalia about meeting us at the crater- I don't wanna stop by the house again. That she-devil cat is back and it keeps peeing on the newspaper." I had no idea what she was talking about but I went along with it.

In a few short minutes, we arrived at the crater. I could see why it was called that. It was a crater shaped lake with a deep river running down in front of the truck where we had parked. A heavily dense tree line ran around the water, shedding leaves and bark into the current. Annabeth and Jason exited the truck, and I followed. Not soon after, Jason and Thalia arrived in an old Toyota. They said their greetings and began to strip.

"What are we doing…?" I asked cautiously.

"Goin' swimming, dummy." Annabeth replied, taking off her tank top and shorts to her bra and panties, as did Thalia. Jason and Luke took off their shirts and jumped right into the frigid water. They laughed for a minute or two when everyone was in but me, until they realized my absence. "Come on in, Percy."

"I don't want to strip." I said.

"Why not?" Jason laughed, "Do you have polka-dots or something? Nothing we haven't seen before."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," I mumbled.

"What?"

"I said 'I don't have a change of clothes with me.' If I get wet it'll ruin my shirt and my mom will be mad."

"Sally?" Annabeth laughed. "I hardly think so. I'll just buy you a new one." She gestured for me to come in. "Don't be a party pooper, Percy."

"I'm not, I just don't want to swim." I didn't feel up to explaining my scar to a bunch of strangers.

"Okay then!" Annabeth sang. "Do it, Luke!" I felt a pair of arms pick me up easily from the riverbank and throw me into the water like a leaf. Shit.

"Arrrggghh!" I yelled mid-air. I fell into the water with a splash, and my muscles froze up from the coldness. My back was to the four laughing at me, and I felt my shirt float up. I turned towards them quickly while pulling down my shirt.

"What was that?" Jason asked. "On your back."

"Oh um," I fumbled around behind me for an excuse and I found something squishy. "It was a leech…" I grabbed it and accidentally threw it at Thalia by mistake. The slippery blood suckers.

"Hey! Don't throw it at me!" Thalia chucked it back at me, and it landed square on my nose.

"Ohh gross!" Annabeth squealed, as I plucked it off with a squelching noise. I tossed it at her all the while nodding my head at Luke. She took the hint and swiftly put it down the back of his pants.

Let me just say, if I was back in New York, people would be doing #LeechWars.

After a good two hours in the river, we got out. We began to go our separate ways, and Annabeth dropped me off at the diner. I had to do something. I walked to the warehouse, kicking cans and dodging wrappers on the sidewalk until I found the metal doors. I went inside, to the specific place where I found my discovery. It was the product of the factory,

 _It was a gun._


	3. Day Three

ᴡᴀʏ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ʜᴏᴍᴇ

ʙʏ ᴘᴀᴜʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴜʀᴛʟᴇ

ᴅᴀʏ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

 **I need ideas for the next chapter. More ideas, less waiting time. (what is this sorcery?!)**

 **Hemophilia: A disease when the blood does not clot,**

 **A.K.A, you do not stop bleeding once cut.**

Later that night, I snuck into my house to find my mom sleeping on the couch, probably waiting for me. I slipped off my shoes and put the gun on the side table to quickly grab my mom a moth-ball blanket from the closet. After I tucked her in, I retrieved the gun and stripped to my underwear. I dropped the sweat-soaked clothes in the corner and climbed into bed, stuffing the gun under my mattress. I fell asleep.

I felt a poking sensation in my side. I swatted at it blindly, as my head was buried in my pillow. It continued steadily until I turned over to find the cause, just to fall out of bed. I fell heavily to the floor with a large _thump_ , and heard a small giggle. I rubbed my eyes, and found myself face-to-face with Annabeth.

"I don't know Percy…" She began, "I would have thought you were a tighty whiteys man. I guess I was mistaken." I quickly grabbed my pillow from the mattress and covered up my groin area.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. My voice betrayed me and cracked for some unknown reason. My face turned red.

Annabeth patted me on the shoulder. "Poor, poor, Percy. Still getting the side effects of puberty." She faked a sigh and her eyes strayed to something poking out of the mattress. Oh gods. "What's that?" She began to reach unknowingly for the gun.

"N-nothing!" I scrambled to sit in front of it, and pushed it underneath the mattress with my back. By now, my face was beet-red.

"Oh, I know what it is!" Annabeth whispered deviously, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods. "It's a magazine!" I would give a sigh of relief if she hadn't started laughing loudly. "Innocent Percy who won't take his shirt of in a creek has a _Playboy?_ " She guffawed another round before I tried to get her to shut up.

"Don't tell my mom, okay?!" I defended. My acting could be good in bad situations, much like this one. Annabeth threw her head down to finish her chuckling, and slapped me on the shoulder. When she looked back up at me, she wiped a tear and promised she wouldn't tell my mom.

"Well you at least tell me what you're doing here?" I questioned, shifting on the dusty floor to grab some clothes. I made sure not to flash my scar.

"I came over to get you. We were planning on going to the border."

"The border?" I stood up with my back to the wall and shimmied on some pants. I spotted my shirt across the room. "Can you get that for me?"

Annabeth regrettably got up and threw it to me. "Why couldn't you, lazy?"

"Like you said, I'm lazy. Anyways, the border?"

"It's the border between the Cherokee reservation and the town line. We like to hang out there before they find us. It's exciting." Annabeth said lamely.

"Why don't, you, know, actually go over the border?" I deadpanned.

"The Cherokees hate us. I have no idea why, but when Jason was a kid, they yelled at him, grabbed his arm and took him to his mother. Well, before the accident." I decided not to question the accident.

We got up after a couple minutes of silence and went down the creaky second-floor stairs to smell the wonderful scent of blueberry pancakes. My mom set two plates out on the kitchen island, where two identical stools sat next to each other. Annabeth and I walked towards her, and I swear I saw her wink.

"Breakfast is served!" Mom said excitedly, pulling out the stools for us dramatically. Annabeth laughed as I blushed at my mom's foolish behavior. That's my mom for you.

We sat down, retrieving a creak from the stools as we cautiously got ready for their collapse. I began to eat when I was sure it wasn't going to break, and these were the _best_ pancakes my mom ever made. Annabeth seemed to agree with me.

"Sally, these pancakes are to _die_ for!" To add emphasis, she shoved more into her mouth, rolling her eyes back as if she was in heaven. We quickly finished up to get on our way, clearing the dishes and giving my mom a hug on the way out.

We picked up Jason, Luke, and Thalia in Annabeth's truck and started heading west. A dense forest began to surround the old road, when eventually it ended and turned into dirt. Sadly, I had to sit in the truck bed because it was Jason's turn to sit in the front seat. I struggled to find a grip on the muddy vehicle, and Thalia and Luke kept laughing at me from across. I watched steadily as the forest grew thicker and thicker, and the _End of Road_ signs began to show. I momentarily lost my grip when the wheel hit on what felt like a gigantic rock. As you would have guessed, I flew out of the truck.

"Holy _shit!"_ Thalia screamed. Annabeth swerved wildly until she found a safe area to pull over. Luke burst out laughing when Annabeth, Jason, and Thalia ran over to see how I was doing.

"Oh my _gods,_ Percy, I am so sorry!" Annabeth crouched near me. "Are you okay?"

"I lost my grip when you hit that rock."

"Honey, that was a squirrel…" Thalia said slowly when I realized my hand was in its… remains… I quickly removed it from the carcass and wiped it on my jeans in disgust.

"How is your leg?" Jason spoke up, pointing to it. I tried to stand up, but it turned out Annabeth _did_ hit a rock. I landed on top of it, too.

The right side of my right leg had a gigantic yellowish-purplish bruise and an oozing cut covered in dirt. Annabeth apologized over and over again as Luke and Thalia became the peanut gallery. Jason squatted next to it, pressing his calloused hands against the cut. I flinched from a bolt of pain, but he continued.

"Luke, give me your shirt."

" _What?"_ He asked, looking wildly at Jason.

"We need to cover up his cut, and I'm sure none of us will do it."

"I'd rather not. I just bought this." He said defensively when Annabeth began to take hers off. "Annabeth!" He protested.

"It's my fault, Luke. Besides, we're still going to the border." Jason took her shirt and tied it firmly around my leg.

"Is it a bad time to mention I have hemophilia?" I said.

" _WHAT?!"_ They all screamed in unison, eyes wide.

"Just kidding!" I smiled cheekily, despite the pain. Annabeth put her hand to her face and muttered, "Luke, you're driving."

We all climbed in- I got the back with Annabeth and Jason. I got to lean on Annabeth's shoulder (he he).-and Luke sped through the forest. I was surprised I didn't fall out a second time, but I was enjoying my time with Annabeth even though we barely knew each other. It wasn't long until we stopped at the end of the road. Everyone got out, and began hiking east, where after seven minutes we reached the Cherokee Indian Reserve border. With that, we all sat down and began telling stories.

"The first time and _last_ time I crossed the border was when I was seven." Jason told us. "I wandered away from my mom when she began drinking again and I found myself in the woods. I hadn't gone too far across, but eventually one of the Cherokee Elders found me and quickly rushed me back over. He yelled at me for a good measure once across, but he was nice enough to bring me back to my mother. Right before he turned me in, he said something that was confusing. I still wonder about it."

"Well?" I asked, waiting for the message.

"He said, _the next time you cross over is your fate. The unexpected greets you and your fellowship saves you. Your life will never be the same."_

"That's kind of creepy…" Thalia admitted. "Let's get on a funnier note. First kisses!" She pointed at Luke and altered her voice to sound like Elvis, "Eyy… it's your turn."

"Well," Luke began. "My first kiss was regrettably in second grade when a girl named Lucy Stevens ran up to me in the playground and kissed me on the lips." We all laughed when Luke blushed and continued.

"I haven't had mine yet…" Jason stated cautiously.

"That's no secret!" Annabeth noted loudly, and it was her turn. "Biggest mistake of my life." She stated. "It was with a jerk in sixth grade who later moved. He pressured me into it." Annabeth stuck out her tongue. "If I ever meet Matt Sloan again he's getting a good ball-kicking.

"Wait-" I cut her off. "Did you say _Matt Sloan?"_

"Yeah, why?"

"He moved to New York in seventh grade. He bullied me all the time." I said quietly. My head hung low with my dark, unruly hair obscuring my face full of shame. I didn't like to admit I was bullied.

"That _bastard!"_ Annabeth yelled. "I swear to god, I will rip his nut sack out and feed it too him." Luke and Thalia's jaws dropped at her commotion.

We sat in a circle for a while in silence before I had an idea.

"Let's cross the border." I said.

" _What?_ " They all said in unison.

"Are you crazy?" Luke asked.

"What gave you _that_ idea?!" Thalia followed.

"Percy, I think you lost your mind," replied Annabeth.

"I'll do it," Jason said last. "I did it once before and I turned out alright."

"Jason," Thalia looked at him in the eyes. "Are you sure about that? Are you _completely_ sure?" She laughed at her little brother's red face and straightforwardly told all of us, "If he's going, I'm going. I can't lose another family member."

After ten minutes of arguing, we all agreed on going over the border for at least fifteen minutes. The atmosphere seemed to change when our feet touched the other side, and we began to delve closer and closer to the Cherokee's town. We stopped after a while and sat down.

"This isn't as exciting as I thought." I sighed.

"It is for me!" Annabeth smiled. "I've never been here before. All of the trees seem to be different, even the animals. Or at least they act like it."

"Annabeth," Luke stated skeptically, "How can a tree _act_ differently. It's a tree."

"Just watch." She was right. "What's that?" Annabeth pointed to rustling grass behind Jason, who was sitting on a large boulder.

"Holy shit, it's a gigantic snake!" Thalia yelled. "Jace, move!"

"Whaa-" He looked around stupidly when the snake slithered up his leg. Everyone froze. Thalia grabbed a rock.

"I'll be very careful…" She whispered, slowly moving her arm back.

"Wait-" I began to say, but too late to warn her when she practically bashed her brother's knee in with the rock. She nicked the snake, but most of the blow hit Jason. The snake fell off his now bloody knee, and escaped to under the boulder.

"Oh my gods," Annabeth covered her mouth with her hands. "Thalia how could you be so _stupid?!_ "

"I am so, so, sorry Jason." Thalia cried, trying to fix his knee somehow. I never thought she would say sorry to anyone. Jason looked at his knee in shock, very aware of the situation.

"You hit my knee with a rock!" He practically yelled.

"Shh!" Luke hushed him, holding up a finger. We all stopped. "Do you hear that?"

It was a faint voice yelling "I think I heard something!" Dogs barked from the distance and twigs snapped. They had heard us.

"We need to get out of here!" Annabeth whisper-yelled. Thanks, Captain Obvious.

"Jason can't even walk. We can't leave him here!" said Thalia. I measured our options in my head. Jason was too heavy to carry far, and like Thalia said, walking was out of the picture.

"Thals, I'll be fine. Hide me in a bush and come back for me in an hour." He reassuringly put a hand on her shoulder. With that, Luke and I hoisted him up and hid him in a bush not too far from our temporary campsite. We all ran once we saw Jason was obscured from our vision, and ran for dear life.

 **One Hour Later**

"I can't believe we just left him there!" Thalia sniffled. "My poor baby brother was bleeding to death and hiding in a gods-forsaken bush because of me!"

"It's okay, Thals, you were just trying to help." Annabeth had an arm slung around her, and we were walking to his hiding spot.

"Jason?" Luke and I began to call. "Jason!"

No response. We checked the bush where he was hiding, but he wasn't there. There were… footprints instead. We quickly called over the girls and began to follow them, hearing Thalia's worrying all the way there. The footprints lead to a cabin that wasn't too far from the town. We exchanged nervous glances and Thalia stepped up onto the porch. With that, she kicked down the door, screaming "Give me back my brother!" What we found was _definitely_ surprise. Jason was lying on a bed in the front room with his knee bandaged up, holding hands with a Cherokee girl. Her hair was braided neatly to the side with an elegant eagle feather sticking out.

"Um…" Jason lifted his head to look at Thalia's betrayed and confused face. "Piper, these are my friends."

"Nice to meet you," she said sweetly, yet guarded.

"Guys, this is Piper… my girlfriend."


End file.
